The present invention relates to a disc player which contains a plurality of discs and plays back a disc selected therefrom and a method of controlling the disc player.
FIGS. 21A and 21B are diagrams showing a prior art disc player disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2,813,174 published on Dec. 22, 1998. FIG. 21A shows an exploded perspective view of a disc holding/separating section 90 for holding a plurality of discs 91 and 91a, and FIG. 21B shows a side view showing a playback section 92. Referring to FIGS. 21A and 21B, when a disc 91a to be played back is selected from the plurality of discs, a tray 93a on which the selected disc 91a is placed is separated from the remaining trays 93 by a separating and positioning mechanism (not shown), thereby creating upper and lower spaces 94a and 94b above and below the selected disc 91a. A playback base 95 together with a clamper arm 98a is lifted up to an elevation corresponding to the tray 93a and rotates about an axis 95a to move the turntable 96 and an optical pickup 97 into the upper space 94a and to move a clamper 98 mounted on the clamper arm 98a into the lower space 94b. After that, the damper arm 98a swings upward about a shaft 98b in a direction Q to separate the selected disc 91a from the tray 93a and urges it against the turntable 96. Subsequently, the turntable 96 is rotated to play back the selected disc 91a. 
In the above-described prior art disc player, the playback base 95 is provided with both the turntable 96 and the damper 98, which are simultaneously conveyed into the upper space 94a and the lower space 94b, respectively. Therefore, the upper space 94a and the lower space 94b must be simultaneously secured above and below the selected disc 91a. Accordingly, a thickness of the disc holding/separating section 90 is increased, which results in an increased thickness of the prior art disc player.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a disc player with a reduced thickness, and a method of controlling the disc player.
According to the present invention, a disc player which is capable of containing a plurality of discs and playing back a disc selected from the plurality of discs, comprises: a disc holding/separating mechanism which holds the plurality of discs concentrically and which separates the selected disc from the remaining discs; a turntable; a pickup which reads out data recorded on the selected disc which is placed on the turntable; a playback base which supports the turntable and which moves toward and away from the disc holding/separating mechanism; a clamper which secures the selected disc to the turntable; a clamper arm which supports the clamper and which moves toward and away from the disc holding/separating mechanism; a translating mechanism which supports the playback base and the clamper arm and which moves toward and away from the disc holding/separating mechanism; and a control mechanism which controls motions of the playback base, the damper arm and the translating mechanism in such a way that, when the selected disc is put on the turntable by the disc holding/separating mechanism, the turntable is placed at a first position, which is located on a central axis of the plurality of discs held by the disc holding/separating mechanism, and when the pickup reads out data from the selected disc, the turntable is placed at a second position, which is located at a predetermined distance from the first position.
Further, after the playback base moves toward the disc holding/separating mechanism to place the turntable at the second position to place the turntable at the second position, the translating mechanism moves toward the disc holding/separating mechanism to place the turntable at the first position.
Furthermore, the disc player may comprise a stop member which is provided on the playback base and which comes into contact with the disc holding/separating mechanism when the translating mechanism moves toward the disc holding/separating mechanism, wherein the turntable is located at the first position when the stop member comes into contact with the disc holding/separating mechanism.
Moreover, when the translating mechanism moves toward the disc holding/separating mechanism to move the turntable from the second position to the first position, the clamper arm moves away from the disc holding/separating mechanism.
Further, after the turntable is located at the first position, the clamper arm moves toward the disc holding/separating mechanism and the damper secures the selected disc to the turntable.
Furthermore, after the clamper secures the selected disc to the turntable, the translating mechanism moves away from the disc holding/separating mechanism to move the turntable from the first position to the second position.
The playback base may be rotatably mounted on the translating mechanism. Further, the clamper arm may be rotatably mounted on the translating mechanism.
According to the present invention, a method of controlling a disc player comprising the steps of: separating a disc selected from a plurality of discs which are concentrically held by a disc holding/separating mechanism; moving a playback base for supporting a turntable toward the disc holding/separating mechanism to place the turntable at a second position, which is located at a predetermined distance from a central axis of the plurality of discs held by the disc holding/separating mechanism; moving a translating mechanism toward the disc holding/separating mechanism; moving a translating mechanism toward the disc holding/separating mechanism to place the turntable at a first position, which is located on the central axis of the plurality of discs held by the disc holding/separating mechanism, the translating mechanism supporting the playback base and a damper arm together with a clamper; putting the selected disc on the turntable; moving the clamper arm toward the disc holding/separating mechanism; securing the selected disc to the turntable by the clamper; moving the translating mechanism away from the disc holding/separating mechanism to move the turntable from the first position to the second position; and playing back the selected disc at the second position.
The method may further comprises the steps of: moving the translating mechanism toward the disc holding/separating mechanism to move the turntable from the second position to the first position; raising the clamper from the selected disc which is placed on the turntable; moving the damper arm away from the disc holding/separating mechanism to move the damper to an outside of the plurality of discs held by the disc holding/separating mechanism; holding the selected disc by the disc holding/separating mechanism; moving the translating mechanism away from the disc holding/separating mechanism to move the turntable from the first position to the second position; and moving the playback base away from the disc holding/separating mechanism to move the turntable to the outside of the plurality of discs held by the disc holding/separating mechanism.